Marci Reaven Research Files on the Cooper Square Committee
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Abstract
The Marci Reaven Research Files on the Cooper Square Committee (dated, 1954-2015) contain Marci Reaven's research files for her New York University PhD dissertation on the history of citizen participation in New York City urban planning, which she completed in 2009. Reaven's files consist of primary and secondary source materials compiled on the Cooper Square Committee (CSC). They include records collected directly from the offices of the CSC, personal files of former CSC members Walter Thabit, Lois Dodd, Rita Lee, and Frances Goldin, and records related to community activism collected from other archives.
Historical Note
Marci Reaven (1954- ) is a scholar of American history and urban planning. She completed a PhD in American history at New York University in 2009. Reaven collected a wide array of documents on the Cooper Square Committee (CSC) for her dissertation "Citizen Participation in City Planning, New York City, 1945–1975,"which focused on community organizations in New York's Lower East Side and prominently featured the role of the CSC. In support of her research, she collected primary source materials directly from regional archives including the New York City Municipal Archives, Long Island University, the Social Welfare Archives at the University of Minnesota, and the New York State Archives in Albany. She also collected documents directly from the Cooper Square Committee offices and from individuals involved with the CSC including Walter Thabit, Lois Dodd, Rita Lee, and Frances Goldin.
Arrangement
Materials in this collection are in the order in which they were received by the donor, and have been divided into four series based on groupings established by the creator. Materials in each series are arranged in roughly chronological order. Series I: Marci Reaven Files reflects research files assembled and arranged by Marci Reaven. Materials in Series II: William Thabit Cooper Square Committee Files, Series III: Lois Dodd Cooper Square Committee Files, and Series IV: Collected Publications were sent to Reaven separately and are maintained in the order in which Reaven received them.
Scope and Contents
The Marci Reaven Research Files on the Cooper Square Committee (dated, 1954-2015) contain Marci Reaven's research files for her New York University PhD dissertation on the history of citizen participation in New York City urban planning, which she completed in 2009. Reaven's files consist of primary and secondary source materials compiled on the Cooper Square Committee (CSC), an organization focused on affordable housing and community development in Manhattan's Lower East Side. Reaven's research files include records collected directly from the offices of the CSC, personal files of former CSC members Walter Thabit, Lois Dodd, Rita Lee, and Frances Goldin, and records related to community activism collected from other archives. These records document the Cooper Square Committee's involvement in campaigns for affordable housing, community health initiatives, and against urban renewal projects around Cooper Square between the 1950s and 1990s.
Research files assembled by Reaven are largely maintained in chronological files, and individual documents are annotated with source information. Files from Lois Dodd and Walter Thabit were given to Reaven by Dodd and Thabit and consist of personal files related to their organizing activities with the CSC.
Subjects
Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Because of the assembled nature of this collection, copyright status varies across the collection. Copyright is assumed to be held by the original creator of individual items in the collection; these items are expected to pass into the public domain 120 years after their creation. The Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from this collection that were not created by Marci Reaven. Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) to items created by Marci Reaven, the creator of this collection, were relinquished and transferred to the public domain in 2017 by Marci Reaven. These materials are governed by a Creative Commons CC0 license. Users need not secure permission from the Tamiment Library to publish or reproduce these materials.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Marci Reaven Research Files on the Cooper Square Committee; TAM 724; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Marci Reaven in 2017. The accession number associated with this gift is 2017.022.
About this Guide
Processing Information
At the time of accessioning, the collection was described at the collection level with a box-level inventory. Materials listed in a box-level inventory based on an inventory supplied by the donor. Materials have been moved into archival housing, but have not been arranged by an archivist.
Repository
Series I: Marci Reaven Research Files, 1954-2015, inclusive
Scope and Contents
This series contains research files on the Cooper Square Committee assembled by Marci Reaven. Many of the documents are maintained in chronological files with annotations related to the original source of each document. Annotatios are written in Reaven's short-hand, and include the following sources: CSC stands for Cooper Square Committee; documents marked 4215 indicate the Walter Thabit Papers at Cornell University; RLee indicates files given to Reaven by Rita Lee; CHPC stands for the Citizen's Housing and Planning Council archive in New York City; SWA stands for Social Welfare Archives at the University of Minnesota; FGoldin indicates files given to Reaven by Frances Goldin, Weinberg or LIU relate to the Weinberg Collection at Long Island Univeristy, State Arcives relate to documents sourced from the New York State Archives in Albany, MA stands for New York City Municipal Archives; and City Society stands for the United Methodist City Society. Other files in this series relate to specific campaigns, committees, individuals, and organizations involved in urban planning and activism in the 1960s and 1970s.
Cooper Square Committee, 1955-1958, inclusive
Cooper Square Alternate Plan, 1959, inclusive
Cooper Square Committee, 1960-1962, inclusive
James Felt, 1962, inclusive
Cooper Square: Pilot Rebab Study, 1963, inclusive
Cooper Square Committee, 1963-1970, inclusive
Cooper Square Committee, 1971-1975, inclusive
Cooper Square Architect Selection, 1971, inclusive
Central Plaza and Vietnam, 1973, inclusive
Cooper Square Committee, 1976-2000s, inclusive
Thabit, Walter: Writing and Biographical Materials, 1957-1979, inclusive
Cooper Square Chronologies by Walter Thabit, 2004-2005, inclusive
Church of all Nations, 1970-1972, inclusive
Citizens Housing and Planning Council, 1959-1961, inclusive
United Housing Foundation, 1958-1960, 2004, inclusive
Cooper Square Songs, 1964-1967, inclusive
Mutual Housing Associations, 1971-1990, inclusive
Antonio Pagan Aainst Cooper Square, 1990s, inclusive
Joint Planning Council, 1980s, inclusive
Cooper Square Committee Published Reports, 1969-2000, inclusive
Project Area Committee Information: General, 1974, inclusive
Alternate Plan For Cooper Square Campaign Ephemera, circa 1961, inclusive
Goldin, Sally Ann. A Tribute to Frances Goldin, undated, inclusive
Metropolitan Council on Housing. A Citizens Survey of Available Land, 1964, inclusive
Urban Renewal, 1955-1977, inclusive
Lower East Side Neighborhood Association (LENA), 1961, inclusive
Metropolitan Committee on Planning (METCOP), 1954-1960, inclusive
Cooper Square Committee Anniversaries, 1984-2015, inclusive
Bowery R-10 Zoning Fight (Walter Thabit Papers), 1967-1970, inclusive
Broome St. Expressway (Walter Thabit Papers), 1962-1965, inclusive
Citizen Participation, Lower East Side, 1959-1966, inclusive
Planners for Equal Opportunity (PED), 1966-1990, inclusive
Housing Policy, 1958-1978, inclusive
Advocacy Planning, 1965-1977, 2007, inclusive
Community Boards, 1966-1977, inclusive
Series II: William Thabit Cooper Square Committee Files, 1973-1991, inclusive
Scope and Contents
This series contains the personal files of community planning activist Walter Thabit and relate to his work with the Cooper Square Committee. These files include materials on general Cooper Square Commitee organizing beetween 1980 and 1989, Cooper Square Commitee elections, and urban development campaigns.
Urban League Demo Project, 1973, inclusive
Bowery Planning, 1970-1975, inclusive
Cooper Square Health, 1965-1973, inclusive
Glick Sponsorship, 1975-1982, inclusive
Cooper Square Elections, 1976-1991, inclusive
Cooper Square, 1978-1989, inclusive
Artworks Committee, 1984-1986, inclusive
Jewish Association for Services for the Aged Fight, 1982, inclusive
Series III: Lois Dodd Cooper Square Committee Files, 1973-1975, inclusive
Scope and Contents
This series contains the personal files of artist and Cooper Square Committee leader Lois Dodd. Her files relate to Dodd's participation in urban planning campaigns including her work with the Urban Development Corporation, which the Cooper Square Committee (CSC) attempted to gain as a sponsor in the 1960s and 1970s; the Project Action Commitee; and the Bowery Residence Committee. Organizing materials related to the Bowery R-10 Zoning Fight relate to the CSC's efforts to prevent rent increases in 1975, and documents on the Broome Street Expressway relate to organizing efforts between the CSC and Jane Jacobs to resist the contruction of the expressway.
Bowery Health Facility, 1973, inclusive
Finances and Tax Returns, 1974, inclusive
Urban Development Corp, 1974, inclusive
Project Area Committee Contracts, 1974, inclusive
Bowery Residents Committee, 1975, inclusive
Series IV: Collected Publications, 1971-1981, inclusive
Scope and Contents
This series contains publications related to urban planning (1970s-1980s), which were collected by Rita Lee, a district manager for Community Board 2. Publications include reports and recommendatons from the New York State Charter Commission, neighborhood planning guides, and community planning handbooks.
